Main Street Ritter's now open year-round

Speaking of Ritter's... Sports Page update Have you heard?

Speaking of Ritter's... Sports Page update Have you heard?

November 13, 2005

It was a Saturday morning a couple of months ago when a man who had donated blood was driving and felt faint. He pulled into the Ritter's Frozen Custard lot in Mishawaka and struck the building. "He only went up the curb at 5 miles per hour, but later we found out he suffered from a mild heart attack," says Bob Jaques, the new owner of the Ritter's at 3921 N. Main St. "But he's OK." The accident caused about $20,000 in building damages to the southeast corner of the round custard restaurant. And that is the construction recently mentioned on the sign outside the store. It doesn't have to do with a drive-through Jaques hopes to add sometime next year, if he receives the proper permits, or his plans to be the only area Ritter's open year-round. Yep, year-round. That is the big news at this business. Others that remain open all year in Indianapolis and Ohio break even or make a little bit of a profit, Jaques says. So starting Monday, the Mishawaka Ritter's will be open noon to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The location will be closed Mondays. Other area Ritter's will be closed until springtime. "I said, let's just try it. I have nothing else going on. If worse comes to worse, I can always work without any hired help," Jaques says. "But I needed to stay open to make custard during the winter to sell at Bethel." He is going to sell custard at the home basketball games of his alma mater. Jaques also is introducing a cake fundraising program at Penn High School, where he also graduated. And Jaques will promote the Ritter's cakes like crazy. What will the line be like at the stand in the middle of winter? Remember, it's Michiana. "They won't be long," he says. "But we do have diehard fans. I figure there's always growing competition from ice cream places coming and going, so I don't want our customers getting into the habit of going somewhere else." Today is the last day to pick up frozen custard at the South Bend, Elkhart and Warsaw Ritter's locations because they are closing for the winter. These locations will reopen for quart sales only in the weeks ahead. So keep an eye out for information on quart sale dates on the signs outside those store locations. All four new owners of the Sports Page in Granger, which we wrote about Friday, have tracked us down. They are: Mike Thompson, Dennis Andrysiak, John Thompson and Michael Weston. It looks like the restaurant, which will be renamed JT's Bar & Grill, is closed for a couple of months for renovations. However, the club/dance side -- which will be renamed Club 22 in the future -- remains open 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday in the meantime. It looks like Harris Branch Library patrons will be able to sip coffee again this week. The Looking Glass Cafe, named after the famous story "Alice in Wonderland," should open on Thursday in Granger. Robyn Stone, Molly Emmons and Sarah Moon are the co-owners as well as sisters. They plan to hold fun events, like a Mad Hatter Tea Party that involves both the cafe and library. Heidi Prescott's Market Basket column appears on Fridays and Sundays. When she's not out shopping, you can contact her at hprescott@sbtinfo.com or at (574) 235-6070.Heidi Prescott Market Basket Heidi Prescott is a Tribune columnist.